White House, Red Door
by brucas025
Summary: OneShot. Daddy, that looks like the dollhouse I have,” Courtney commented from her father’s arms, pointing to the large house next to them. Brooke has been gone for seven years. BL.


"Daddy, that looks like the dollhouse _I_ have," Courtney commented from her father's arms, pointing to the large house next to them. She had the same blue eyes as him, but dark curly hair. He could never figure out where she got that hair from, considering both he and Peyton were blonde.

Sometimes he had wished Peyton had cheated on him, and he could leave her to find Brooke. It would make sense. Maybe it was really _Jake's _daughter.

Lucas could never fight the feeling that Peyton and he had gotten married to try to heal their hearts. Peyton had lost Jake, Lucas had lost Brooke. It seemed natural for them to fall together somehow.

"Yeah babygirl," Lucas replied to his daughter. "That's because the girl who used to live in that big house was the one who let you have the dollhouse."

This wasn't entirely true. They had the dollhouse by default, since Brooke had left without a word. She had left tons of stuff behind in her house with a short note.

_Give everything away_, it read. _Won't be back. –Brooke_

And that was it. She was gone.

So, as Lucas cleared her house out a few days later (Peyton couldn't bring herself to do it), he came across the dollhouse and knew his six month old daughter would love it in the future. And with that, the white house with the red door had become part of Courtney's room, the only thing left of Brooke.

"Oooooh," Courtney said, suddenly understanding. She kept her eyes fixated on the house with the red door, entranced by the striking resemblance that it had to the dollhouse that sat in the corner of her room surrounded by stuffed animals. It was her favorite toy, by far. Barbie dolls lost their heads, puzzles lost their pieces, teddy bears lost their limbs, but her dollhouse had always remained in perfect condition.

Lucas lowered Courtney from his shoulders and to the ground. She giggled as he tickled her stomach before handing her the plastic pumpkin that held her Halloween candy.

"Can we trickertreat there?" she asked, still curious about the house.

Lucas gulped, not in the mood to relive the memories of his first love and her disappearance right now. But then he looked down at his daughter, dressed in a sparkly tutu with a crown, holding a silvery sparkly wand, her brown curls naturally cascading down her tiny body, and he couldn't help but reply with a shaky, "sure honey."

They walked up the seemingly endless path. Lucas watched as Courtney skipped ahead of him onto the porch that he had come to know so well. He remembered how he and Brooke had both decided to be friends after the basketball banquet so many years ago, and how he hadn't wanted to let her go from the embrace that followed. He remembered how he waited on that porch until morning after they had an argument over Peyton and how Brooke had opened the door the next morning, as the sun rose, and how she had sat herself down next to him, leaning her head onto his shoulder, whispering that she was sorry.

He had expected someone to move into the house eventually. It was huge, and it was beautiful. So, he wasn't surprised to see the porch light on paired with the lights that flowed out of the red door's window.

"Ring it, daddy, I can't reach!" Courtney said hopping up and down trying to reach the doorbell.

So, Lucas rang the doorbell, his heart aching at the thought of someone answering the red door who _wasn't_ his Pretty Girl.

He had never gotten over Brooke. Had had never gotten over her at his own wedding, and he had never gotten over her when she had left without a word.

"One minute!" a voice echoed softly from inside the house, then, the turning of a key in the door.

"Lucas?"

"Trickertreat!" Courtney said holding up her plastic pumpkin with a large grin on her face.

She stood stunned, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a few stray hairs grazing her face. She pushed them away and smiled at him broadly.

"Brooke?"

"I can't believe this!" Brooke said happily, lurching forward to hug him.

Lucas slowly hugged back, still astonished by Brooke's unannounced return seven years later.

Courtney faked a cough. "I said _trickertreat!_"

"Oh, I'm so sorry little princess. Let me go get you some candy!" Brooke said pulling back from the embrace. "Come in, both of you!"

They walked into the house. Boxes cluttered the entire floor, and furniture was strewn about. Lucas found himself speechless, walking into the large space, where Brooke's living room had been when they were in high school, zombie-like.

Brooke left the two standing alone for a moment and Courtney found her eyes wandering through the house. It even looked like the _inside_ of her dollhouse.

"Dad, who's that lady?" she whispered.

"She's the girl who gave you the dollhouse, Court," he said softly, his own eyes wandering.

Brooke returned with a bowl of candy. "Here you go little princess…"

"I'm Courtney. I have your dollhouse," Courtney said as she took a fistful of candy and placed it into her pumpkin.

"I'm Brooke. Your daddy and mommy saved it? Really?" Brooke said happily. "I loved that dollhouse. I'm happy they gave it to such a pretty princess like you. I hope you love it forever and ever and ever."

Courtney nodded excitedly. "I will! I _promise_! My Barbies love it too," she giggled.

"One day, you can give it to your daughter," Brooke smiled.

This was the happiest Lucas had seen her since they had been a couple. Her skin was bronzed, her eyes were sparkling and her dimples were full fledged valleys embedded into her soft face. When they had broken up, Brooke had been miserable. She'd faked smiles in every picture from him and Peyton's wedding, you could see it in the photographs. She had lost weight during that time, and people worried about her. But she had always claimed it was because she was running more than usual. But Lucas knew better.

But now, she was back to her normal _truly_-happy self.

"There's someone I want you to meet!" Brooke said giddily. She couldn't believe that Lucas was here, but most of all, she couldn't believe how her heart wasn't aching in his presence, how her body wasn't begging her to move closer to him.

She walked toward the staircase, "Matt! Come down! There's someone I want you to meet!" she called up.

A few moments later, a tall man with dark brown hair appeared. His skin was golden brown, and Lucas couldn't fight the immediate defensiveness.

"Matt, this is Lucas. Lucas, this is my husband, Matt."

The words hit him hard, and he had to take a deep breath before shaking the man's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Matt said before wrapping his arm around Brooke's shoulders. Matt, too, felt his defenses turn on knowing that Lucas was Brooke's first love. But he was confident that he and Brooke were _really_ in love and that nothing, not even a scrawny blonde guy from her past, could tear them apart.

"I can't believe you're back in town," Lucas commented, eying the man. "What has it been? Seven years?"

Brooke laughed. "It feels like forever. But my parents still owned the house and we were tired of New York, so we're trying this out for a little," she grinned up at Matt who's arm was still firmly around her.

"Can I get you a drink?" Matt asked.

"Ooh! Can I have appuh-juice?" Courtney said from the floor. She had spilled out the contents of her bucket onto the floor and was now in the process of sorting and counting each piece of candy.

"I'll see what I can do for ya, princess," Matt said. With a quick peck on Brooke's forehead (resulting in a huge smile), he headed toward the kitchen.

"So, how long have you been married?" Lucas said, once Matt was out of earshot.

"Four months tomorrow," she grinned.

God, she looked beautiful.

"I can't believe you're married," he thought aloud.

"Well, I wasn't gonna sit alone forever, now was I?" she teased, giving him a soft nudge.

Lucas felt electricity flow through him on the spot that she had touched. He wondered if she had felt it too.

"I'm sorry everything's such a mess. We just got here this morning!" she laughed, realizing that the only thing in the large house were boxes. Some were half unloaded, but most remained sealed.

"It's okay," he said.

"So how's Peyton?"

And for some reason, the way Peyton's name easily rolled of her tongue made him nervous. It had never been easy for her to ask about him and Peyton. It had always been forced, and unnatural. But now, it was different. A smile played on her face as she waited for his response.

But instead of answering, he found his lips crashing into hers, and she found herself immediately pulling back: something she never thought she'd be capable of doing.

She never thought she'd be able to resist Lucas, even when she was at her happiest, moving into her childhood home with the love of her life.

"What are you doing?" she asked, laughing nervously.

"It's always been you, Brooke," he said, coming to the realization that had been lingering in the back of his head for years.

"Lucas, I know that when I left I still had feelings for you. Hell, I had feelings for you from the day you told me you gave a 'rat's ass about me' until the moment I met Matt. But, it's over for me. You'll always be in my heart, but not in _that_ way anymore."

She didn't know why, and neither did he, but she was smiling, as if confronting her fears and her past was soothing. She felt the small tightness in her chest, where Lucas had slightly lingered, release with the words.

"But…"

"I'm sorry Lucas. _I don't love you anymore_."

And with those words, Lucas felt his heartbreak into a million tiny pieces.

He walked over to Courtney in silence and put all of the candy back into her bucket. She protested, but Lucas ignored her. He picked her up, the bucket in his opposite hand, and headed toward the door.

"Lucas," Brooke said reaching out as if trying to stop him. He turned around hoping that she'd realize that they were _really_ meant to be and that she had made a mistake, she _did_ still love him.

"Tell Peyton to call me," she said, smiling weakly.

_Tell Peyton to call me._


End file.
